


Safe and Sound

by sniperct



Series: Threads of Fate [1]
Category: Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, First Dates, First Kiss, First Meetings, Flowers, Getting to Know Each Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:26:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23917510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sniperct/pseuds/sniperct
Summary: A few days before the bombing of the Sector 1 Reactor, Tifa is having second thoughts about the mission. But her day is improved when she meets a flower peddler and gets talked into walking her around.Or how Aerith and Tifa's first meeting turned into a date.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough/Tifa Lockhart
Series: Threads of Fate [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1850716
Comments: 21
Kudos: 245





	Safe and Sound

**Author's Note:**

> I got the distinct impression playing through the remake that Tifa and Aerith had met previously. I'm only on Ch14 as of this writing but I had to run with that thought and here we are. Some foreshadowing of events up to ch14 and potentially events from the original game.

Tifa was having one of those days where her mind was every place but where she was walking. She felt so distracted, like everything in her life was coming to a head. She worried for the future and for her friends and what it would mean when they set foot on the path that they’d decided on.

But she wasn’t having second thoughts, no. Not even a little. Lots of things could go wrong, people could get hurt and they could die, and even though Barret tried to reassure her that the planet was more important than anything. And he wasn’t _wrong_

Maybe she _was_ having second thoughts. Not just about the mission, but calling in a favor with an old friend...

Sighing, Tifa stepped out onto the sidewalk, and bodychecked someone. There was a flash of pink and red and she reached out on instinct, grabbing the person’s hand and pulling them back up. But the person was lighter than she expected or she wasn’t paying attention to her strength and she yanked them against her.

“Oof!” A woman’s voice, an exhale of breath against her cheek. She felt a hand on her chest and the other still gripping hers and looked down into stunning green eyes.

Tifa forgot how to breath for a moment, before the woman blinked and the spell was broken. “Are you okay? I’m sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“It’s all right.” The woman squeezed her hand and then let go of it, but didn’t step away right away. Not until she noticed where her other hand was and her cheeks flushed. 

Tifa felt the same heat in her own, but at least she was remembering how to breathe again. 

Flowers lay scattered around from a fallen basket, and she winced. “Let me help you with those.”

“Thanks. That was _kind_ of your fault anyway.” She smiled cheekily at Tifa, before kneeling to save some of the flowers.

There were some types that Tifa wasn’t at all familiar with, and a few she knew. Carefully she picked them up, bundling them before putting them into the basket. More than once, her hand brushed the woman’s and she marveled at how warm her skin was.

She hadn’t felt like this around someone in years, and that dredged up some memories that were better left buried. “I’m Tifa, by the way.”

“Aerith.” Aerith stood, and held out her hand to help Tifa up. Once they were both standing, she shook it. “Think you can help me with something?”

“I don’t really have any plans today,” Tifa admitted. She flashed a smile, “And I probably owe you a bit for nearly knocking you on your ass.”

“Bruising this ass _would_ be a crime.”

Tifa found herself agreeing but didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of voicing that thought out loud. Somehow, Aerith seemed to guess anyway. Grinning, she looped her arm through Tifa’s. “I’m making a delivery. You’re now my bodyguard.”

“Do you often find bodyguards out of people you meet on the street?”

“No, just people who look really strong and seem kind of sad. It’s not like bodyguards just fall out of the sky or something” Aerith squeezed Tifa’s bicep and licked her lips but Tifa was positive she’d imagined that. “Besides, I’m a good judge of character.”

“I’m not sad.”

“Sure you’re not.” Aerith started to walk, hand still on Tifa’s upper arm. “You can talk about it if you want. I won’t judge.”

She was persistent, but not irritating about it. “I wouldn’t want to waste your time.”

“You won’t.” Aerith tilted her head and smiled at her, “Besides, you have a pleasant voice.”

That made two of them. Tifa found herself smiling at the woman’s antics and attitude, “Have you ever been on the verge of making a major change in your life?”

Aerith hummed a non-committal tune, “A few times. Something big coming?”

“That’s one way of putting it.” Tifa’s eyes grew downcast, “Have you ever… seen something. An injustice, a wrong, and no matter what you say or what you do, the people who can make the changes that need to be made don’t listen?”

“Did you try screaming louder?”

Tifa smiled bitterly, “Yes. But they don’t listen. And they’ll keep doing wrong and hurting the planet until they’re made to listen.”

“If you’re walking through the street, and you see someone being hurt, what do you do?”

She clenched her fist, “I step in and protect them.”

“Even if it means getting into a fight?” Aerith slowed her step, leaning her head against Tifa’s shoulder.

“Yes, even if it means getting into a fight. To protect the innocent, or the planet, sometimes you have to get into a fight.”

“Then it seems to me, that maybe instead of screaming really loudly, you need to pick up a stick and hit them.” Aerith grinned, looking up at her with those impossibly green eyes.

“What if I miss and hurt someone who doesn’t deserve it?”

“Then I guess you’d have to live with it. But if you don’t swing that stick, they’ll keep hurting people, right?”

“Right.” It didn’t really settle Tifa’s stomach, and in some ways it was what Barret kept telling her. 

“It seems to me that no matter what you do, there’s no good choice, only bad ones.” Aerith stopped, and stepped in front of Tifa, looking up at her. Aerith plucked a white flower out of her basket and stuck it down the front of Tifa’s shirt. “So you have to do your best and hold to your convictions, and try to help as many people as you can in the process.”

“... What’s this?”

“Edelweiss. It means courage and devotion. Something I think you have in spades.”

Tifa blinked, looking down at the flower then back into Aerith’s smiling face. “Thank you. I hope I don’t disappoint you.”

Aerith took her hand again, and pulled her along. “I don’t think you will.”

Shaking her head, Tifa let herself be led along by this flower peddler. She even let herself enjoy the way her hair bounced in the sunlight. “That’s still a tall order for someone you just met.”

“Like I told you.” Aerith let go of her hand and turned around. She walked backwards as she reached out and booped Tifa’s nose. “Good judge of character.”

Terrorist, potentially on the verge of murder. Tifa didn’t think she was the best character for a sweetheart like Aerith to try to befriend. “So how much farther?”

Placing a hand over her own heart, Aerith asked, “In that much of a hurry to get rid of me?” 

“No, actually.”

Aerith laughed, turning around to walk normally. “Good, because I’ll need someone to help me get home after this.”

Realizing she’d just gotten willingly roped into walking Aerith home, Tifa shook her head. “I’ll walk you home on one condition.”

“Yes.”

“You haven’t even heard my condition!”

“I think you’re trustworthy,” Aerith replied. “And I don’t think you’d take advantage of me in any way I don’t want you to.”

Wait, what? Tifa cleared her throat, “I’m starving, so I’m buying you lunch.”

“It’s a date.” Aerith rounded a corner, disappearing from Tifa’s line of sight. She picked up the pace to follow her, though she hung back a little when Aerith knocked on a door.

It reminded her of when she’d have to pick up payment for the filters she sold back home; sometimes it could get a little nerve wracking, if there was a problem or the client was trying to cheat her. More than once she’d had to twist arms, literally, but she wished it could be easier. She just wasn’t as intimidating as Barret, even with how much she worked out.

Aerith at least didn’t seem to have any problems this time. Tifa couldn’t make out any words that were being said, but Aerith’s voice was chipper and upbeat and she was smiling at the person in the doorway.

That didn’t have to mean anything, and Tifa edged a little closer out of concern, trying to channel Barret or maybe even Biggs. She needn’t have worried; Aerith’s customer was a charming older woman and the door closed by the time she was standing behind her.

“Everything go okay?”

Aerith jumped, then placed a hand on her chest, “You can move quietly when you want to.” She turned around, gazing up at Tifa with a strange intensity, “Everything is fine, she’s not the kind of client you’d need to worry about.”

“This isn’t exactly the best neighborhood in Sector 8,” Tifa pointed out. It had nothing on the slums of course, but there were some dark alleyways even topside. “But I guess that’s why I’m here isn’t it.”

“Yep!”

Laughing, Tifa offered her arm. “So which way is home for you?”

“Sector 5 Slums,” Aerith replied. 

“That’s good, I live in Sector 7, so I won’t have to backtrack too much, and more importantly,” Tifa grinned at her. “I won’t have to just buy you lunch. I can _make it_.”

“Ooh, taking me home already?” Aerith took Tifa’s arm, pressing herself against her in a way that left Tifa feeling warm and just a little dizzy.

“I own a bar, Seventh Heaven” Tifa breathed, forcing her feet to move. 

Aerith’s eyes twinkled, and she didn’t have to say anything for Tifa to blush. The walk, at least, gave them a chance to chat. Tifa told Aerith about the bar, and her section of Midgar. She even, briefly, mentioned her hometown of Nibelheim, but Aerith couldn’t get too much out of her and seemed to understand it was a sore subject.

Aerith told her about the orphanage in Sector 5, the things she did to help the people there, and the house she’d grown up in surrounded by fields of flowers. Tifa found it almost too hard to believe that there could be any place in Midgar with a natural beauty like that. Those of them that lived in the slums seemed to be destined to live in a world of brown and gray.

She resolved to buy flowers from Aerith sometime, to bring some of that color to Sector 7.

“I like it,” Aerith said, following Tifa into the bar. It was empty, and a hidden indicator told her no one was down below in the secret room. So it was just the two of them, which was kind of a relief.

She almost wasn’t ready to give Aerith back to the world. “So what are you hungry for? And would you like a drink.”

“I’m hungry for...” Aerith said, staring directly at Tifa and letting the words linger three seconds too long. “That burger on the menu.”

Tifa cleaned a glass that didn’t need cleaning, waiting for her face to start burning. “I’ll get that grilled right up for you.”

“As for a drink, water is fine.”

Nodding, Tifa poured her a glass, then heated the grill up.

“Oh, that tastes… different.” Aerith peered into the glass, then took another sip. “A good different! It almost tastes like water topside does.”

Tifa smiled, though she felt a little sad thinking about it, “I’ve got a filtration system. We even installed them all over the slums here. I have to charge people a modest sum to replace the filters, but … it helps both with the taste and the smell.”

“Remind me to ask you how much that installation costs,” Aerith said thoughtfully. “For the Leaf House, at least. The water that comes through the flowers is actually pretty fresh, but it gets bad very quickly past my house.”

“It sounds like you won the jackpot, a little bit. At least as far as your living situation.”

Aerith grimaced, “I know. I feel guilty about it sometimes. It’s a small house, but a great location and my mother works her ass off to keep it up. She says it never used to be so picturesque until me, but I don’t belive her.” She lifted her head, and looked around the bar, “But. I think maybe we can take a lesson from my mom, and from you too.”

“From me?”

“Look at this place.” Aerith gestured around them. “It’s obvious you take good care of it. We have to make do with what we have and what we can get our hands on, but a lot of hard work can make any building clean and nice to look at.”

“You’re right.” Tifa guided Aerith over to a table and set a burger down in front of her and then brought over her own plate, “So don’t start feeling guilty about the place you live in, okay? From what I’m gathering, you do a lot for the people around you, just like I try to do.”

“Okay!” Aerith nodded in agreement.

They ate mostly in silence, except for the occasional comment from Aerith about the food and the fact that the sounds she was making _had_ to be on purpose. Aerith seemed to be a bit of a tease and Tifa honestly wasn’t minding. But she about jumped three feet when she felt Aerith’s foot nudge her own.

Maybe this really _was_ a date? 

“You keep checking the time, do you have plans later?”

Tifa shook her head, “Oh, no, I just… I have friends who sometimes drop by and I’m wondering if they’re going to show up and be pests.”

“Either you don’t want me to meet your friends,” Aerith teased. “Or you just want me all to yourself.”

“That second thing,” Tifa promised, and it seemed to be the right answer.

“Good.” Aerith winked at her, then finished her water and slipped out of her chair. “You know, next time we should get dressed up.”

“I’d like that. Are you ready to go home?”

“Well, seeing as your friends could show up _at any minute_ , the best chance I have to still be alone with you is to walk very, very slowly home.”

Tifa eyed the dishes, then the girl, then chose to leave them for someone else for once in her life. “So. Sector 5, right?”

“That’s right!” Aerith held out her hand, wriggling her fingers, “We can’t walk home from dinner without holding hands, that would be breaking some law somewhere.”

She took her hand gladly, and led her out of the bar. “We could take the train.”

Aerith tilted her head, “From here? It would go all the way around the plates and then through the undercity of four Sectors before Sector 5. It’s faster to walk, when you count all the stops.”

“And that’s bad how?”

“I knew I was a good judge of character.” Aerith swung their hands as they walked towards the station.

“I’m thinking you’re just a really bad influence on people.”

“You’re not wrong.” She knocked her shoulder into Tifa’s, a bright beaming smile on her face until they’d reached the station and boarded the train. 

The car they found themselves in was mostly empty, yet Aerith chose to sit close enough to Tifa that she was almost in her lap. She leaned against her and asked, “Have you ever felt like you were supposed to meet someone?”

“Like fate?” Tifa asked. She wasn’t sure she believed in fate, but she understood the question.

“I guess so.” 

Tifa looked down at soft hair that smelled like flowers, and swallowed, “I can say that I think meeting you has improved my life somehow, just for knowing you. I can’t say _why_ though.”

“Ever felt that way before?” Aerith moved her head, holding Tifa’s eyes with hers.

“... Yeah. A friend I knew in Nibelheim, some others I met after I came to Midgar. But Cloud was kind of a childhood friend so I don’t know if he counts.”

“Mm.” Aerith’s lips turned up at the corners. “I feel like I was supposed to know you. I can’t really explain why, either. But that’s how I feel. Maybe it’s just the planet whispering to me, but it tells me a lot of things… “ She lowered her gaze, “Second chances...”

Those lips looked so inviting that Tifa had a hard time looking away from them. “So you’re hearing the planet now?”

Aerith laughed, turning her head away and scooting closer, forcing Tifa to put her arm around her to keep it from being pushed into an uncomfortable angle. Since it wasn’t exactly an imposition to enjoy this, Tifa grinned to herself, watching the city speed by them. 

She felt a squeeze on her arm and looked back down at Aerith. Her face was hidden by her hair but she was positive there was a blush on her cheeks. That only made Tifa feel even better and she darted her eyes before she flexed. Aerith exhaled sharply, fingers tightening on Tifa’s muscles.

“Sure you want to go straight home?” Tifa found herself asking, lifting her free hand to brush Aerith’s hair away from her face.

“Having naughty thoughts?”

Tifa’s eyes widened, “I uh. I didn’t mean to imply anything by that. I just meant--”

“I don’t _believe_ you.” Aerith’s eyes gleamed with mirth and a gentle heat as her hand started to stroke Tifa’s upper arm, “I think you knew exactly what you were implying, Tifa. But you should have thought of that before we left your bar.”

Tifa’s blush deepend, but before she could respond, the intercomm announced they were coming up to the Sector 5 Undercity. “...one more stop, I guess.”

Aerith smiled at her, and straightened up. “I guess so!” 

Once the train stopped for the last time, Tifa stood, offering her hand to Aerith to help her up. Aerith led her off the train, then latched onto her arm again for the walk to the slums. Even from here she could see how strange the sky looked with most of the Sector 6 plate in the process of being rebuilt. She hadn’t been in Midgar when it had collapsed and couldn’t begin to imagine how terrifying and traumatic that must have been. 

“What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing important,” Tifa replied, smiling at her. “My mind wandering to things that are pretty much impossible.”

“Mm. Well there are probably some impossible things that might just be possible,” Aerith said, making Tifa wonder what she thought she’d been thinking about. 

Aerith hadn’t been kidding about her house. There was still just enough daylight streaming down for Tifa to make out the waterfall and all the flowers. She forgot she was escorting someone as she became engrossed in the sight, moving slowly towards it and feeling as if she was in a dream.

The other woman moved into her field of view, and her hair shone in the fading light. Aerith was stunningly beautiful, so much so that words failed her.

“Thank you, Tifa.” Aerith said, stopping on a little bridge above the water. She gestured for Tifa to join her, and waited for her until she did, then lifted her hand to her arm and stroked her skin. “You brought me home safe and sound after our date.” 

“Can … can I come visit you?” Tifa asked, “I’ve got something in a few days, but after that…”

“Your big life change?” Aerith nodded, then stuck a flower into Tifa’s hair. “Well, if you can’t find me here, you might be able to find me at the church.”

“Yeah, my big life change,” Tifa said, nodding as well. She reached up to pluck the flower out of her hair and look at it. “Lavender rose?”

“Hey!” Aerith snatched it back and slid it back into Tifa’s hair.

“Is there a meaning to that one?”

Aerith leaned up on her tiptoes, pressing her lips to Tifa’s, left hand stroking her cheek softly as the kiss lingered. Tifa felt light headed, marveling at the soft warmth of Aerith’s lips as she leaned into the kiss more, her own hand threading into Aerith’s silky hair.

It was over far too soon, Aerith stepping back with a mischievous look in her eyes and a far too pleased smile. “How’s that for heaven, hmm? Good night. I look forward to seeing you again.”

“Good night, Aerith,” Tifa rasped, and didn’t move until long after Aerith had gone inside. It was a strange feeling, she knew she’d need to start focusing solely on the missions to bomb the reactors, but right now all she could think about was that kiss. The mission came first, yes, but it was nice to think that she had something to look forward to after. Almost like she was being given a second chance at something.

“I’ll see you again,” She promised, though Aerith couldn’t hear her. But Tifa planned to keep her promise.

**Author's Note:**

> Lavender Roses signify love at first sight ;)
> 
> So my wife had this idea that the remake was literally a different timeline and not just a reboot, ala 'all this has happened before and all of this will happen again' based on some observations while I was playing (And a certain, uh premonition scene that's treated as a memory) and I might have toyed with that a little bit ;)


End file.
